What if John F Kennedy Jr and Princess Diana fell in love?
by shannen.gora
Summary: Imagine for a minute what royal watchers and Kennedy oficandos can wish was true: that JFK Jr. didn't die in a plane crash in 1999, and that Princess Diana survived the car accident that claimed her life in 1997. Now fastforward to 2013. The beloved English Princess and America's Prince Charming are madly in love and sharing a loft in the TriBeCa neighborhood of New York City.


What if…

A loft in Manhattan's TriBeCa neighborhood

July 1, 2013

"Wake up sleepyhead!" JFK Jr. called to a sleeping Princess Diana.

"I made you breakfast… well I actually picked it up from Bubby's… but still."

John said to the still radiant former royal.

"Thank you, darling." Diana said while sitting up amid a sea of luxury Egyptian cotton sheets.

"And, happy birthday." John said while he sat down on the bed, reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small red velvet box with his mother's initials, "JBK" printed on the top.

Diana smiled, took the box into her hand and passionately kissed John. Then she traced Jackie's initials with the tip of her finger before looking back at John.

"Go on, open it." John said excitedly, looking back at her with his vast expressive brown eyes. Diana slid her finger between the top and bottom of the box and opened it. Glittering back at her was a crystal broach in the shape of a lily of the valley.

"It belonged to my mother. Lilies of the valley were her favorite flowers."

"Thank you darling. I love it. I'll wear it tonight, if you don't mind."

"I'd be honored if you did." John said, before planting a kiss on her lips.

"You stay here and eat your breakfast. I've gotta go publish a magazine…see you tonight."

John started out the door then turned back.

"Do you need me to pick up Wills, Harry and Kate at _Kennedy_?"

Diana smirked back at him.

"No thanks." She said in response. "I'll pick them up after my run in the park with Friday II."

"K. See you tonight. I love you."

"Love you too, Sam." Diana yelled back, repeating John's childhood nickname.

Diana finished her breakfast, and then rolled over onto John's side of the bed. She loved resting her head on his pillow and breathing in his strong, masculine cologne. John always slept with his shirt off, and he had a tendency to sweat even if New York City was in the middle of a North eastern snow storm. John's part of the sheet was soaked through with his signature blend of sweat, expensive cologne, and musty lower Manhattan air.

Diana slipped out of bed and made her way into the bathroom. John had spelled out "I love you" in the bowl of the sink using Crest Minty white toothpaste. Diana smiled, than scooped up part of the "I" up onto her tooth brush and brushed her teeth. She slipped off her silk bathrobe and stood in front of the mirror before jumping into the shower for a quick rinse. As she stood there, she realized that this was the first time since her divorce from Prince Charles that she really examined herself. Her body, once plagued by bulimia which made her ghostly thin, was tanned, strong and well nourished. Her upper legs and stomach, once covered with self-harm scars, left only one, the deepest of them all, remaining. The rest of her skin was toned, tanned and flawless. John helped it get that way.

After a quick rinse, Diana went back into their room and slipped on her running gear. A _George_ t-shirt, white athletic shorts, and bright pink Nike's was what the former Princess wore on her runs in Central Park. Diana spent twenty minutes trying to find Friday II's leash, which John had accidentally thrown out. "Typical John." Diana thought to herself. But she loved him _because_ of his flaws, and likewise with him.

Once she and Friday II left their loft and were out on the street, Diana slipped in her ear buds and began to jog. Diana loved New York, especially TriBeCa. She and John had lived in the neighborhood for years, so people had gotten used to the former Princess of Wales and the Prince of Camelot sharing a loft. The press was a lot more respectful in New York than they had been in England. Everyday Diana gave thanks that she had left that tunnel in Paris alive.

Meanwhile, John couldn't keep his focus on anything. After leaving the loft that morning, John nearly rollerbladed into a hotdog vendor's cart, and was scolded to in broken English. Just as John was getting up, a bystander screamed back at him.

"Don't you know who that is?" The woman exclaimed.

The vendor looked at John from foot to head and then looked back at her, bewildered.

"It's John F. Kennedy Jr.!" She yelled back.

"Oh, mi sinceras apologies!" The vendor said horrified.

"Don't sweat it." John said before slipping out a hundred-dollar bill and handing it to the fellow.

"I'm sorry about that. Please take this." John said to vendor. "I failed Spanish. I would've loved to have been able to apologize in Spanish, but you can't have everything." John said to him.

"Señor es el _richest_ man alive!" exclaimed the vendor, looking at the bill.

"No he's not. He's the _sexiest_ man alive!" A woman said, snapping a picture of him with her iphone.

John smiled as he rollerbladed further down the street and then whispered to himself,

"I'm not either of those. I'm the _luckiest_ man alive."

As John weaved in and out of commuters and sidewalk- walkers, he was reminded that he had not always gone nearly unnoticed. It was only after Diana was nearly killed in that tunnel in Paris back in '97 that people—even the press, began to leave celebrities alone, realizing how valuable and fragile their lives were. John was reminded again how lucky _he_ was. Although he didn't realize it at the time, being jilted at the altar by his ex-fiancé Carolyn was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.

A few weeks after Carolyn left him humiliated at the altar, his sister Caroline came to check on him. Movers were scampering about collecting Carolyn's things, while John sat on the hardwood floor of his living room in his underwear. He was surrounded by pictures of Carolyn, and by notes Carolyn had left him. Friday II's predecessor, Friday I, was all John had. Caroline forced him to get up, get dressed and go with her and her husband Ed to a charity dinner for Wall Street's Robin Hood Foundation.

"Carolyn… I mean _Caroline_; I can't go without a date. You of all people should know that." John protested.

"C'mon John… you mean to tell me that the Robin Hood Foundation is not going to allow the shattered, sensitive, newly single, Prince of Camelot into a charity dinner that just happens to feature a bachelor's auction? Please, John, don't humor me. Just get dressed." Caroline said.

"Fine. But only so the children can have a new jungle gym. God knows that's all I'm worth." John muttered before storming off into his bedroom.

That night, John appeared at the Robin Hood Foundation's venue: the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing the rented tuxedo one of his groomsmen had dropped off the day after his miswedding. Miswedding. That's the word he was using to he refer to the worst day of his life. It was the day of his miswedding. He had thrown his own several thousand dollar tuxedo into the choppy waters off of CumberlandIsland in Georgia the day before he left the island. The pants on his groomsman's tuxedo were slightly too short for John's long athletic legs. "I look ridiculous" he thought to himself as went down the steps to his loft. "It's all for the children" he kept telling himself "It's all for the children".

John could conceal his embarrassment over how he looked. But what he couldn't hide was the anger he felt toward Caroline. Ever since their mother's death nearly three years before, he and Caroline were more inseparable than ever. They watched out for each other, and never let other get hurt. "Why then..?" John thought to himself. "Was she making him do this? Didn't she know about the press? The stares? The thinly veiled statements of sympathy?" The headlines were even worse. Even worse than the "the hunk flunks… again" headlines that plagued John after he failed the New York bar exam twice.

When he, Caroline, and his brother –in – law Ed entered the charity dinner, the entire room stopped. The room was filled with celebrities, Wall Street execs, politicians and no small amount of wealth. The guest list had been publically released months before, with John and Carolyn going as a couple. When the list was released, only John, Carolyn and a few friends knew that the place card by then was supposed to read "Mrs. Carolyn Kennedy." But, now, John was just John Kennedy. No date, no girlfriend, no fiancé, no wife. Maybe Caroline was right. His single status would make the Robin Hood Foundation _a lot_ more money.

Once John had navigated his way through a sea of celebrities and Wall Street greed aficionados offering him their half-hearted condolences and apologies, John took a seat at the bar.

"Two Rolling Rocks, straight from the bottle." John asked in an uncharacteristic brash tone.

As John drank both beers in the span of about 2 minutes, he began to scan the room for people he knew. He saw a few _George _staffers, all of whom respectfully nodded but knew enough not to test John at a time like this. Just as John was about to ask for a third and fourth, he noticed the bartender was busy speaking to a blonde woman in a red dress. He heard that she spoke with a very Posh British accent while ordering a dry Martini. When the bar tender turned around to mix her drink, John caught his eye and lifted up his empty, sweating beer bottle. The bartender nodded.

"Thanks." was all John could mutter. The blonde woman suddenly turned over to John, caught his eye, and smiled. John noticed it was Princess Diana. He appreciated how respectful she was of his space. She of all people would know about the importance of space. However, John decided to refrain from being rude and chat with her.

"Hey, I'm John Kennedy." He said while shaking her hand. John loved introducing himself. It made him feel like a regular guy.

"Diana. Just Diana." She said back to him.

"I'm sorry about your divorce." John said.

Diana laughed. "Don't be. It's the best thing that's happened to me in years."

John smiled. "Oh, well, in that case congratulations!" John laughed for the first time in weeks.

Diana smiled back. John loved that she seemed to act as though she didn't know what happened to him. It helped him forget about it for a while.

"I really admired your mother. I'm trying to raise William and Harry the way she raised you and Caroline. I always tell William to treat the press the same way you do."

"I really hope that I set a good example. He seems like a great kid. They both do."

The bartender finally returned with John's beer. John took it from him, smiled, and put it on the bar without taking a single sip.

"Can I ask a really big favor?" John inquired.

"I don't know, what is it? Diana said.

"Well, uhh..." John smiled. "Carolyn… Caroline, excuse me, said that there was going to be a bachelor's auction tonight."

"And…" Diana tried to finish the thought.

"Can you just bet on me? I'll pay you back every penny, I swear. I'll just take you home and that'll be the end of it. I promise. I just don't want to go home with one of these vultures." John said.

Diana laughed. "Sure. But can we at least go out for coffee or something?"

John smiled. "Why not."


End file.
